Parents Are Pissed After School Postpones Daddy-Daughter Dance Because It's Not 'Inclusive'

Parents and students at a school in Staten Island, New York, are shocked and devastated after the school's annual daddy-daughter dance was postponed. The changes, brought on by new gender-neutral policies instituted by the Department of Education, have left many parents feeling like their cherished traditions are being ruined by a political agenda.

The dance, which was supposed to be held on the Friday before Valentine's Day, has been postponed on the principal's orders.

According to CBS New York, the school claimed it made the decision to properly adhere to New York City's new gender-neutral policy. Put in place about a year ago, these policies require schools to eliminate gender-based practices and events that lead to "marginalizing, stigmatizing, stereotyping or excluding students, whether or not they are transgender or gender nonconforming."

Principal Sophie Scamardella sent home a letter to parents, informing them that the planned daddy-daughter dance is no longer happening.

Instead, the dance will take place in March and will be an inclusive event where all students and family members are allowed to attend. While the dance is still on, the changes to the event left many feeling like the father-and-daughter event they'd planned on attending was effectively canceled.

In response, local assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis sent a letter to the Chancellor of the Department of Education.

In her letter, Malliotakis made it clear that while she completely supports inclusion for transgender and gender nonconforming kids, it shouldn't come at the expense of time-honored traditions. "Rather than robbing every student of the opportunity to create a lifelong memory, the school should instead focus on establishing accommodations should a transgender student wish to attend the function," her letter read.

CBS New York spoke to many parents who were also completely against the school's decision.

All of them shared the sentiment that the new policy was encroaching on an important bonding moment for fathers and daughters. "You have to see my daughter's face every time we walk in," dad Gregorio Rosario said. "For us dads that we have the time, I actually make the time for it because we work at night. It's a pleasure."

Other parents took to social media to express their frustration with the new rules.

Some suggested that it was wrong to institute policies like these for a "very, very small percentage of people."

Some said the Department of Education should focus on adding new events to include marginalized students, instead of changing existing events.

And, of course, plenty of people commented on how disappointed the kids would be.

They pointed out that the "children who looked forward to their special day" would be the ones most affected by these changes.

Taking the chance to speak with those kids, CBS New York asked them how they felt.

Many expressed sadness over not being able to attend a traditional daddy-daughter dance. "It's kind of a letdown," said fifth-grader Angelina Lubo. "At least I could still spend time with my dad."

But they still seemed open to the idea that the changes would give way to inclusivity. "It's fair because we have mother-son bowling sometimes," Lubo said. "If girls wanna go bowling too, besides mothers, they can't really."